


gladly break my heart (for you)

by godsensei



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Baggage, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Touch-Starved Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-03-14 20:30:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13597794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godsensei/pseuds/godsensei
Summary: “You want me to... touch you?” Lance asks, a mildly dubious look on his face. Keith feels his face go hot.“Yes! You touch everyone else. I just-- we’re boyfriends, right?” he asks, feeling stupid, but so hopeful. Lance searches his face for a moment, before his eyes soften, a sweet smile blooming on his lips.





	gladly break my heart (for you)

**Author's Note:**

> This was a request that I got quite a while ago on tumblr. When a person very close to me got sick and subsequently died, I didn't have motivation to do anything, let alone write. So, I apologize for such a long wait. I do have more requests that I'm trying to work on, but, you know... I'll get there when I get there! 
> 
> The request was, "klance first time? With touch-starved/sensitive keith? :o" and I fully plan to actualize the rest of that request in the next chapter, whenever I get to it. It just didn't feel right for this first chapter. Enjoy!

Keith can’t stop watching, is the thing. All the time. It’s annoying, but it’s not like he can stop himself. Since he and Lance made it official, it’s okay, right? He can look. He used to look _before_ , but now… it isn’t creepy?

 

Ok, so he’s bad at this. He’s never done this before.

 

Still, he thinks the way Lance moves is fascinating, captivating even-- the way he drags a hand down Coran’s forearm when he’s talking to him, or links an arm with Pidge when they’re traversing the uneven ground of a new planet. He touches _everyone_ , gets close and orbits right in their personal space, no matter what he’s talking about. He trips over his own feet and places a hand on Shiro’s shoulder to stabilize himself.

 

But they… haven’t. Touched, that is, not really. The whole getting together thing was done with less finesse than Keith had imagined, but it was what it was. They had been mid-fight, yelling at one another, before they’d both angrily confessed and then angrily agreed to date.

 

Then they’d stomped off in opposite directions, where Keith had made it to his room before he started freaking out.

 

After that, it’d only been shoulder bumps and the occasional moment where Lance sat beside him and let their pinkies touch while they watched an Altean history lesson.

 

He _knows_ Lance is more tactile than that and he isn’t quite sure why he’s hesitating.

 

This wouldn’t be such a problem if Keith wasn’t so shitty at relationships. In general. God, he couldn’t even get his _parents_ to stick around-- what makes him think Lance will want to? Maybe Lance doesn’t _really_ want to touch him? That’s stupid, right? If you want to date someone, you’d want to touch them.

 

...but what if Lance doesn’t? Is it because he’s Galran? That doesn’t seem right, what with how Lance is always vocally defending the Blade members when they’re met with derision. He hasn’t said anything negative to Keith about it, anyway.

 

What if he doesn’t want to give Keith the wrong idea? He wants to date, but he doesn’t want to have sex with Keith. (Because he’s Galran? Because he has a greasy mullet? Because he doesn’t really think Keith is all that attractive?)

 

Keith rubs at his face, feeling exhausted with all the circles he’s running in his mind. He just… really wants to make this work. He _likes_ Lance. They’re _a good team._

 

It was fine before all this. In the desert, he’d been fine. Alone, sure-- and lonely-- but he didn’t have to worry so much about impressing pretty boys or aching so badly for said pretty boys to touch him or kiss him or hold him for just a goddamn moment.

  


Lance shifts on his bed a few feet away, and Keith’s eyes are drawn to him again. What gets to him is that he’s lying there on his stomach like he _belongs_ there, calves kicking lazily in the air. He has _no idea_ how he looks, his face soft and unguarded, his mouth moving along to the song Pidge has going over the ship’s speaker system. It’s not his fault that Keith has the urge to abandon his desk chair and just do it. Go for it. Pull Lance’s face to his and kiss him for as long as he can.

 

“Hey,” he says, catching Lance’s attention as the song changes.

 

Lance struggles to pull his eyes away from the book Coran leant him, but he looks up eventually.

 

“Hey,” Lance says back, propping his elbow up and resting his chin on his palm. Keith remains silent, wondering at the blue of Lance’s eyes. They’re so stark against his deep skin tone, his dark lashes framing them beautifully. He has long lashes. More often than not, Lance has a mischievous glint there, but tonight he’s directing a look at Keith that melts him from the inside-out.

 

The longer Keith is silent, tracing the planes of his lips, the shape of his cheekbones, the more teasing Lance’s smile becomes.

 

“Yes?” he draws out the word, lifting his brows.

 

“Uh,” Keith says eloquently, “can we talk?”

 

The smile drops from Lance’s face, his moves slow and hesitant as he sits up, crossing his legs. He messes with the hair beside his ear, a nervous tic.

 

“Sure, I guess,” he agrees, seeming apprehensive.  

 

Keith stands, making to go for the bed, but changing course at the last minute so he can pace instead. He has no idea how to approach this dilemma. Usually, he’s fairly good at just coming out with whatever it is he needs to say, but… this is different. It could go horribly wrong.

 

What would Shiro say? Irrelevant, as Shiro wouldn’t be having this issue.

 

“Just… get it over with, dude,” Lance interrupts, looking small and avoiding eye contact when Keith pauses and glances over. Keith furrows his brow. He does not enjoy the image of Lance curling in on himself.

 

“I--” he cuts himself off, breathing heavily through his nose as he gears himself up, “are you purposefully not touching me?”

 

Lance blinks and straightens, and apparently it’s _his_ turn to be confused.

 

“What?”

 

“You touch everyone! Except me! In fact, I think you touched me _more_ before we started dating!”

 

Lance takes a minute to process, his eyes sweeping the floor as he contemplates.

 

“So… you’re not breaking up with me?” Lance asks, looking up, and Keith’s brain screeches to a halt.

 

“You thought I was breaking up with you?”

 

Lance shrugs one shoulder, and nods, glancing up at Keith through his lashes.

 

“No! We haven’t even been together that long! Why would I want to break up with you?”

 

“Because… I’m annoying? Unattractive? Not really all that useful?”

 

“ _What?!_ Lance, I don’t feel those things about you,” Keith says, crawling onto the bed and sitting in front of Lance, but not touching. “I just wanted you to _touch_ me.”

 

“You want me to... touch you?” Lance asks, a mildly dubious look on his face. Keith feels his face go hot.

 

“Yes! You touch everyone else. I just-- we’re boyfriends, right?” he asks, feeling stupid, but so hopeful. Lance searches his face for a moment, before his eyes soften, a sweet smile blooming on his lips.

 

“We’re boyfriends, Keith. I know you’ve never really been all that touchy-feely and I was trying to respect those boundaries, man.” Lance admits, holding his hand out, palm up, for Keith to take.

 

The breath shudders out of him, a heavy weight lifts from his shoulders. He hesitantly slides his fingers through Lance’s, letting their intertwined hands rest between them.

 

“So…,” Lance says, mischievously, “you want me to touch you… like this?” He reaches out, waiting for Keith’s minute nod, before he caresses Keith’s cheek with his smooth palm, letting his fingers comb through his hair. Keith closes his eyes as his breath catches, the feeling of Lance’s nails leaving pinpricks along his scalp. Goosebumps rise on his skin and he shivers, nodding.

 

“How about... like this?” Lance asks, leaning close to kiss his cheek softly, leaving a brand of warmth regardless of the innocence of the gesture. Keith’s mouth parts, and he sighs, his eyelids fluttering as his brows tilt up.

 

“And if I…,” Lance trails off, extracting his hand from Keith’s and holding his face on both sides, stroking the highs of his cheekbones with both thumbs.

 

“Here?” he whispers, warm breath washing over Keith’s lips.

 

“Yeah,” Keith breathes, eyes still closed as Lance runs his long-fingered hands down Keith’s neck, and their lips touch.

 

And he can’t fucking help it. He feels his eyes watering before he can really do anything to stop it. Just a sweet press of lips for his walls to come down.

 

Lance pulls away, licking his lips before he opens his eyes. When he does, they widen almost comically.

 

“Woah, Keith! What--?” he asks, his hands still on Keith’s arms.

 

“Fuck, sorry--” Keith wipes at his eyes, cursing himself internally. What the fuck is he crying for?

 

“Hey, man, hey, it’s okay,” Lance says, scooting closer and pulling Keith to him, wrapping his arms around him. Keith doesn’t move, emotions bubbling up in his chest he thought he buried out in the desert.

 

So his guardians never gave him any attention, so what? So his classmates thought he was an asshole, whatever. So the only person who ever showed him easy affection disappeared from his life for so long he started obsessing over cave paintings. So people have never touched him gently, without trying to get anything from him. He spent so much time alone and angry. So fucking what?

 

He grasps the back of Lance’s shirt, burying his face in the crook of his neck. Lance holds him tightly, making soothing noises and rocking them side to side.

 

“It’s okay,” Lance murmurs, kissing the side of his head easy as breathing, like the touch isn’t breaking Keith apart.

 

Lance pulls his head back gently, framing his face with his hands. Keith looks at him miserably, sure that he looks very attractive with red-rimmed eyes. Lance caresses his hair, smiling at him.

 

“You wanna stop?” Lance asks, and Keith shakes his head.

 

“I want you to kiss me,” he says, “please kiss me.”

 

“Okay,” Lance acquiesces, leaning in so slowly, barely brushing his mouth against Keith’s. He presses a kiss there, before opening Keith’s mouth with his lips, sweeping his tongue into the opening and tasting him. Lance himself tastes like mint, his lips smooth and tinged slightly sweet. His breath is warm and each kiss, each turn of his head feels like an invitation-- to touch more, to want more.

 

Keith makes an awful, ragged noise when Lance pulls him with him as he lies back against the headboard. Lance opens his legs to him, Keith fitting himself to his body. Every touch is gentle, from the sweet slide of Lance’s fingers across his skin, to the easy press of Lance’s thighs around his hips.

 

“It’s okay,” Lance murmurs against his mouth, keeping his blue eyes clear and open, nipping at Keith’s lips. He runs his long-fingered hands up Keith’s back, twines his arms around his shoulders and presses his cheek to Keith’s forehead as he simply holds him.

 

Keith can feel Lance’s heartbeat against his chest, steady and calming underneath him.

 

“I’ll touch you whenever you want,” he says, and Keith nods, clutching Lance’s shirt tightly.   

 

He believes him.

  


**Author's Note:**

> ...see you space cowboy


End file.
